Monday, January 16, 2012

I'm doing something similar. Everything this week will be about fungi...you know, mushrooms. Don't worry, these mushrooms won't attack you but you might attack them!

Brief Culinary History of Mushrooms

Humans have been eating mushrooms ever since pizza was invented. Okay, that might not be factual.

But we have been cultivating them since the Chinese were growing them in oak logs in the 13th century (McGee 9440). If we were growing them then, we were probably eating them long before that. Maybe lightning struck a dinosaur and while the cavemen were enjoying the overgrown lizard's unfortunate demise, they noticed some nearby fungi smoldering in the embers and how great they tasted together. The white mushrooms that you find in almost any grocery store produce department began to be cultivated in the 17th century in rock quarry tunnels near Paris (McGee 9440).

To me, what is more important is the recent history. When I first worked in a stupidmarket produce department in high school (circa paleolithic era aka "1985"), we had two kinds of mushrooms for sale.

The white ones shrink wrapped in an 8 oz, blue styrofoam package and

the reduced price ones that were the same packages but almost out of date and turning brown.

These days most grocery stores stock fresh white, portobello, and
shiitake mushrooms and other dried varieties. With the farm to plate
movement, many areas local purveyors of specialty mushrooms with unique
textures and flavors.

Many folks like Larry of Big Dude's Eclectic Ramblings have bought kits and are growing their own. Places like local Brewer's Mushrooms will set you up and educate you to grow your own specialty mushrooms easily, at home and using no chemicals other than H2O.

I stumbled on Brewer's Mushrooms at a local market last year. When they were making deliveries in town this week, Hugh dropped by an unexpected surprise of a variety of fresh mushrooms AND a lions mane grow kit! That inspired Fungus Among Us Week.

I won the custom cutting board & a year of coal from a cooking contest with McCormick's last year.

This grilled steak combines the "fifth taste" of umami from the oyster mushrooms* with layers of ginger, garlic, basil and red chilies to create an Asian flavor profile that hits all notes of the taste buds. The stir fry cooks during the steak's resting time, making it convenient for a quick but delicious dinner.

Add the slurry and cook another minute or until the sauce is thickened.

Slice the steak across the grain (short side) and serve family style with the mushroom stir fry over the top.

Notes

Oyster mushrooms have a natural umami flavor. If you can't find oyster mushrooms, use another kind and add 3/4 tsp fish sauce to the mirin/soy sauce mixture.

For the Big Green Egg, I had the top DMFT totally open and after preheating, the bottom vent was about half way closed.

For the Big Green Egg, I closed the bottom vent all the way. The fire was already going from the steak and stir frying requires you to have the Egg top open. The coals will get plenty of air from the open top.

I love the flavor of sesame oil but using it as the only oil is over powering. Using a little sesame oil with a neutral flavored oil like peanut oil gives a balanced flavor.

24 comments:

I've been looking forward to this since seeing it on Facebook. The steak got my attention there, but now that I see the large shot of the shrooms I like it even more. The dish looks fantastic and thanks for the mention.

Fun Guy.. cute name! lol And it sounds amazing! I'll try not to tell my Chris what you are doing here this week, he just might freak out. If there is one thing he does not like that I adore, it's mushrooms. I haven't figure out a way to sneak those into a meal yet. They are a bit hard to hide!

Wow Chris, you've done it again. I am loving the mushroom history in this post and of course, the whole meal comes together perfectly. I am secretly jealous of that awesome cutting board with your initials on it- how perfect for this dish!

I'm usually a total mushroom plain jane and stick with either buttons or portobellos. Oyster mushrooms sound kind of foreign to me..some kind of alien life form perhaps? But a delicious one at that. I can't wait to see what else fungus week has in store for us!

I know I've said before and I'll say it again: I don't grill and I don't cook meat to eat it. What keeps me coming back to your blog, Chris, is your talent and ability to get me excited about the possibility of ever doing this...which is, honestly, very unlikely. Nonetheless, you actually hit Discovery Channel-style storytelling with your brief history of the mushroom. I love this post!

Really happy to see this mushroom breakdown. Your description of the two 'types' of 'shrooms is probably where a lot of people still reside in terms of knowing what's out there. It's awesome to poke around farmers markets and see all of mushies out there. Great pairing with steak!